Tibetans have several means of disposing of their dead. These include fire burial (cremation), earth burial, water burial and sky burial. The one that interests westerners the most is sky burial. This very environmentally friendly way of corpse disposal is gruesome but the intention behind the sky burial practice is the deceased makes one last gift or offering to those that remain alive.
Types of Tibetan burial
Most of Tibet lies above the tree line and this makes fire burial (cremation) an impractical and expensive method. Fire burial is usually reserved for Tibetan Buddhist high lamas. A lot of Tibetan areas are very cold and often the ground is frozen; this makes earth burial also very impractical. Earth burial is occasionally performed but generally for the lower, poorer class. Water burial and sky burial are the most commonly used methods.
History and development of sky burial
It is likely because trees are scarce and the ground is rocky and frozen that the practice of sky burial developed. Water burial is also a common method used. Rivers and sky, birds and fish are abundant in the Tibetan highlands and grasslands. Tibetan culture and religion has also played a big part in the development of this practice.
A sky burial is determined
Sky burial practices vary from region to region but are generally fairly similar.
Lamas practice divination to determine how the corpse should be disposed of. Generally whether it should be by sky burial or water burial, but usually only infants and people who have died from disease are chosen for water burial. The lama decides the place and date the burial should take place on.
The sky burial site
After prayers are read aloud by hired monks, the body is taken to the site. This is usually an auspicious site with many prayer flags. The body, which is usually wrapped in a shawl, is placed on the ground and the hair is shaved and clothes and anything else on the body removed and burnt nearby.
The Tibetan burial vultures
Various incisions are made in the flesh of the body and then the vultures eat on the flesh until the tissue and organs are completely consumed and only the skeleton remains. These birds are Himalayan Griffins; they have a wingspan that can reach up to three meters and they are usually quite tame having become familiar with people and the procedure.
The Tibetan burial body breakers
The people that perform the labor involved in the burial are known in the Tibetan language as a ‘body breaker.’ The body breakers, who are male, are very informal throughout the procedure. After the body breaker has let the vultures eat, he will crush the skeleton bones piece by piece with an instrument. He will mix the bone with lard or yak butter so the birds will completely devour the corpse.
After the sky burial
Everything must be consumed for the burial to be most auspicious. Friends and family watch on from a short distance while drinking yak butter tea and conversing. Usually females do not attend the ritual. This is not because they are not permitted to but because they usually don’t want to. There is often a wake held at a nearby relative’s house for the deceased person after the burial.
Tibetan burial culture
Whilst many westerners find this practice grotesque, one must consider the strange ways any culture deals with the matter of death. Putting make up on a corpse could also be considered unusual. Caution must be taken when traveling to Tibet and viewing a sky burial because of the sensitive nature of this situation.
Sources:
Ulbricht, E. Butter tea, accessed online at http://rhys-emmanuel.suite101.com/butter-tea-a329162, January 2011.
Ulbricht, E. Tibetan wildlife, accessed online at http://rhys-emmanuel.suite101.com/tibetan-wildlife-a329118, January 2011.
Ulbricht, E. Travel Tibet - The roof of the world, accessed online at http://rhys-emmanuel.suite101.com/travel-tibet-a328149, January 2011.
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